


Ahn of Hammerfell

by Shellepink



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Origin Story, Redguard Dovahkiin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-13 14:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4525755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shellepink/pseuds/Shellepink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During Hammerfell's war with the Aldmeri Dominion, a young girl attempts to harden herself in order to survive.  But an abrupt and unexpected separation makes the process very difficult...  </p><p>Intro story for my Dragonborn character.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ahn of Hammerfell

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little origin story of sorts for my Dragonborn! Her name is Ahn, and she's a Redguard born in 4E 170, so is 6 years old in this first story. Just a heads-up; I made up some words that I think could have been a part of the Yoku language which is no longer spoken, but I think could have passed down some of its rules and conventions to modern Redguard speech, which is why Ahn is using them in this story. 
> 
> These words may have meanings in other languages, and I apologize for my ignorance if that's the case! 
> 
> Abi - Father  
> Nani - Mother  
> Ahnli - nickname for Ahn

**Hammerfell, 4E 176:**

Imen was screaming again. Nabari was trying to comfort him. Abi never smiled anymore. Ahn watched all of them from the shadows of the wreckage. She looked to the sky and knew that the time would soon come when the dangerous lights would begin to flash. Magic. If Nani wasn’t quick to return, she might disappear in those magic lights, like Abi always feared. Ahn hugged her knees closer to her chest. 

“Ahnli, come here quickly!” Abi ordered. Ahn quickly shot to her feet and hurried over to her father, looking up at him with expectant eyes. He wasn’t looking at her, but instead was looking out over the vast desert, an expression on his face she couldn’t read. Nani had tried to teach her to read others by their face once. _“You can read his stories in the lines of his skin, my little Ahnli,”_ Nani had said. _“And your Abi has many stories. Sometimes they tell of his deepest emotions, sometimes of his fears.”_ Ahn had then tried to read her father’s face by examining their lines and etches, but it had only elicited a laugh from him. 

“What do you need, Abi?” Ahn asked, squinting through the sun to see what he saw. 

Abi’s hand clenched tightly around her shoulder. “You must leave now.” 

“But Nani isn’t back yet.” 

“I will find her.” 

Ahn was silent in response to her father’s sharp voice. That was the voice she always obeyed. 

“Go with Nabari and Imen,” Abi continued. He paused and his face contorted, the lines and etches in his skin pronounced. “They make for Cyrodiil. It will be safe for you to stay there.” Ahn nodded and continued to watch the desert. 

“You and Nani will meet us there?” she asked. It was not unusual for them to separate for a short time, and had been done before when the Elves had gotten too close.

Abi was silent for a long moment, and Ahn waited for an answer until the waiting became too much. “Abi?” 

“…No matter what, you are to stay with Nabari and Imen,” he replied finally. The hand on her shoulder caressed lightly, a rare show of affection that Ahn still didn’t know if she craved or feared. Affection was warm and gentle, but it never came unless with something bad. 

Something cold began to stir in Ahn’s stomach and she looked up at her father urgently. 

“You and Nani will meet us there…” she said, the calm slowly seeping out of her. Abi released a slow breath. 

“Will you promise to stay with Nabari and Imen, my Ahnli?” his voice was growing hard, and Ahn knew there was no other option but to agree. 

“I don’t want to go,” she said firmly. Abi’s grip tightened and he looked down sternly at her, his face unreadable again. 

“You will go,” he commanded. “If you are stopped and questioned, Nabari will say that you and Imen are her children and she is taking you to your father in the Imperial City. You will listen to Nabari, and until you are in Cyrodiil, you will be her child. Do you understand?” Ahn swallowed, her eyes beginning to sting as Abi’s meaning became clear to her. 

“…Yes, Abi.”

Her father looked at her in silence a moment longer before turning back to the desert. “Go and collect your dress. Nabari has your doll.” Ahn nodded and tried to hide her fearful trembling. Nabari didn’t have her doll; Ahn had stolen it back. And she’d given the dress away weeks ago, though hadn’t told anyone. 

She turned away from her father and hurried around the ruined home to the pile of rubble which her mother had told her to hide her belongings in. Ahn looked wordlessly down to the bricks and debris; it was empty, as it always had been, except for her doll. She crouched down and began to slowly dig through the pile, in case Abi or Nabari should look in on her, trying to hide her tears. 

Somewhere in the distance, she heard the clang of metal on metal and she winced, knowing it not to be a good sound. It was the sound Imen hated the most, and whenever it grew too loud, Abi would grab them all and declare it was time to leave. The sound of the Elves. 

It was growing loudly quicker today, and Ahn froze abruptly as she heard her father’s voice bellow out, “Jinan!” Forgetting her task, Ahn pushed herself up and sprinted back to into the ruins to find Abi. He was no longer there. Ahn whirled around frantically until she spotted him, heading out into the desert, swords drawn. “ _Jinan!_ ” Ahn’s heart sped. 

“Abi!” she called, making to follow her father. 

“No, child!” Nabari was there instantly, wrapping strong arms around Ahn and keeping her still. Ahn almost tried to fight her away, but instantly remembered her father’s words. _“You will be her child.”_ And no child should fight her mother. She went still in Nabari’s hold, wide eyes still trained on her father. 

He had stopped and was looking into the desert, again toward something Ahn couldn’t see, though she tried. The clanging sound grew closer and louder. 

“Fahd!” 

Ahn jumped as the sound of her mother’s voice reached her ears, carried by the desert wind. It seemed very near to the clanging noise, and the sound of it chilled Ahn’s bones. Something was wrong. 

“Nani!” she cried, beginning to struggle in Nabari’s grasp. Nabari held firm. 

“No, little one, don’t!” she exclaimed, pulling Ahn tighter against her. “My Ahnli, you can’t follow—”

“No, stop it!” Ahn screamed, struggling harder. “Don’t call me that, I’m not your Ahnli, I’m not your child! Let me go!” But even as she began to kick and scratch, Nabari’s powerful embrace held, and soon a feeling of helplessness seeped into Ahn’s body and the tears began to fall. 

“Abi!” she shouted again, reaching futilely for the shrinking form of her father. “Nani!” 

Abi continued to move away from her, and Ahn’s body shook as her sobs overtook her. She watched in helpless fear, despair closing in as her father slowly continued to disappear from her sight. 

_“Abi!”_

Suddenly he stopped, a small figure on the desert horizon, and Ahn’s breath caught, shaky hope forming in her chest. He could still turn back, right then, turn back and return to her—!

He turned, and the hope grew. Raised his sword. Released a battle cry that Ahn barely heard over the howl of the winds. Ahn’s chest constricted and she reached again for her father, sobbing harder. 

Behind her, Nabari gave the response, raising her arm and letting loose a great call of her own, and Ahn knew that this was goodbye. Weakly raising her own arms, Ahn tried to mimic her Abi and new mother, but her voice broke and refused to carry. 

“Shh, child, it’s alright, it will all be well, I promise,” Nabari’s arms closed around her again, gentle this time instead of restraining, warm though not at all like Nani’s. Ahn found she couldn’t stop the tears, even as she was petted and soothed. She could still see her Abi, just barely, and she clung to his image as long as she could. 

“They are here…” Nabari’s voice, dark and steely, caused Ahn to blink and suddenly she noticed it. What her Abi had seen before. On the horizon, glints of gold and black, and those must have been the colors of death. It moved toward Abi like a living thing, like a demon, and Ahn’s throat closed around the warning she so desperately wanted to give him. 

“Savages…” 

The desert lit then, with the lights Abi had always warned them about, the _magic_ that the Elves used. Ahn clamped her mouth shut and forced herself to watch as Abi was soon engulfed in the dark black thing, and when he finally disappeared amidst the black and the lights, Ahn choked back a whimper and buried her face against Nabari’s chest. 

“We must go now, Ahnli,” Nabari whispered against Ahn’s hair. “I will keep you safe, my girl, I swear.” Ahn felt a kiss dropped onto her head and she pressed tighter to the only guardian she had left. Nabari urged her to her feet as the first rain of fire hit the ruined city. Screams rent the air and Nabari took up the trembling Imen into her arms, pausing only to make certain her swords were strapped tightly to her back. 

“Ahn, come _now!_ ” she ordered, and Ahn hurried to obey, dragging a hand across her face as she fought her grief. Another blast struck, a building went down. Ahn’s heart raced and she hurried to Nabari’s side.

“Ahn, you will stay with me at all times, do you understand!” Nabari demanded as she moved out of the wrecked building and into the streets. 

“Yes, Nani!” Ahn replied, keeping her eyes firmly on the streets ahead, and not the desert behind. 

It was time to fly.

**Author's Note:**

> For clarification, Fahd is Ahn's father, Jinan is her mother, Nabari is a friend of the family's and Imen is Nabari's son. 
> 
> Hope anyone who read this enjoyed it!


End file.
